


Like Being in Seventh Grade Again

by berryfuls



Category: Other - Fandom
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-16
Updated: 2020-01-16
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:23:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22275229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/berryfuls/pseuds/berryfuls
Summary: (Summary removed)
Comments: 13
Kudos: 206





	Like Being in Seventh Grade Again

“Have you ever played truth or dare?” Jeremy asked casually, breaking the comfortable silence.

Ryan blinked. They were staking out a potential location for a meetup with a client with some  _ interesting  _ gear. Yeah, he was bored as hell, waiting around for the possibility that something might happen. But truth or dare?

“I’m familiar with the game,” he replied. Before he could continue, he was met with Jeremy giggling. 

“Yes, I’m familiar with truth or dare,” he repeated in an overly deepened voice, his movements overexaggerated. Ryan assumed it was meant to be his caricature, and he raised an eyebrow.  _ Cute.  _ Jeremy continued in his normal voice, still giggling. “Why’d you say it like that?” 

“What? I’m just saying, I played a couple times as a kid.” Ryan wasn’t sure why he sounded so defensive. Jeremy put up his hands, relenting but still giggling. “Isn’t it a little cramped in here for the dare portion of the game anyway?”

They were sitting in an old junker of a car, seemingly old enough to be Ryan’s Kuruma’s grandparent. Jack had stolen it from a junkyard with a cargobob on one particularly uneventful day, and she had lovingly turned the thing into a  _ tank. _ Bulletproof windows and tires, racks of fully-loaded guns under the seats, a ridiculously high-speed engine, and enough armor in the panels to stop a nuclear bomb.

The armor, however, took up space within the car. So much space that two people sitting up front could barely stretch without brushing elbows. It was like Jack had wanted all the occupants to be on top of each other. No, it hadn’t been driving Ryan, who definitely did  _ not _ have a crush on Jeremy, up the wall all night, thank you very much.

Jeremy wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. “Is that a problem?” He didn’t make it through the sentence before he cracked up. Ryan was a little grateful he didn’t have to come up with a witty response when he was a little shock-dumb at the innuendo. “Then let’s play just truth. Unless a  _ good _ dare arises.”

“Truth is the boring part of that game.”

“Not if you know the right questions to ask.” Jeremy’s smile was a little dangerous, a little predatory and it sent a little thrill of fear to Ryan’s heart. 

“Alright then. You start.” It wasn’t like they had anything else to do. His agreement  _ definitely  _ didn’t have to do with wanting to know more about Jeremy.

Jeremy took a moment to look Ryan over. Without his mask or even his face paint, Ryan felt vulnerable and exposed. He instantly regretted his decision to let Jeremy start, because he had given up the opportunity to set the tone of the game. God, this is why he stopped playing when he was fourteen. Jeremy could ask literally anything, and Ryan would feel obligated to answer honestly, and nothing would be considered too extreme to ask-

“Why did you decide on the skull mask?”

Huh. Ryan let out a breath of relief that the game hadn’t started too intense. “Oh. Uh, I go to that one mask shop, on the beach? I’ve worn just about their entire stock at one point or another, but the public really held on to the skull in their perception of me, and I guess I kinda like being the bogeyman.” He paused. “Sorry, that was weird.”

“Okay, rule number one. No apologizing for an answer,” Jeremy said with a grin. “Safe space, no judgment, what happens in the car stays in the car.” Ryan nodded, appreciative of the rule. Definitely better than seventh grade, then. “Okay, your turn.”

Ryan sat back thoughtfully. This was actually kind of difficult. What was something he had always wanted to know about Jeremy?  _ Everything _ , he thought immediately, and pushed the thought down before he had a chance to unpack that. “What was the first illegal thing you did?” he asked instead.

Jeremy laughed. “I stole a pack of bubble gum when I was five.” Ryan gave him a look, which made Jeremy laugh harder. “Okay, okay. First actually illegal, bad thing?” He was quiet for a moment, growing serious. “A friend of mine in high school, her family was robbed one night. It really hurt them financially. After she told me about it, I found the guy and broke his nose.” He clenched his jaw. “I was already into fighting at the time. The asshole deserved way worse than he got, but he listened when I said to give it all back.”

Ryan’s heart clenched. Knight-in-shining-armor was a good look on Jeremy. He could sense his anger and regret though, that he couldn’t have done better for his friend. Ryan felt a little guilty for asking the question.  _ He could have stuck with the gum story, _ he reasoned.  _ He trusts you with the truth. _

Jeremy shook his head. “Can’t change the past.” They were quiet for a while. He took a deep breath, recentering, before giving Ryan a devious smile. The shift in emotion was a little jarring. “My turn. Most embarrassing love life story.”

Ryan pressed his lips together. Oh, God. This was what he had been afraid of from the start of the game. He let out a breath. Better tell  _ that _ story. “Okay. Seventh grade, I was at my first boy-girl party. The most popular girl in school had us all over in her basement while her parents were on vacation, her older brother had supplied a keg, and we were playing truth or dare.”

Jeremy grinned wider. “One of the couple times you played.”

“Last time I played, actually,” Ryan clarified with a grimace. “So, it was my turn, and it was my first time drinking, so I was probably drunker than I should have gotten. And I asked for a dare.”

“Like a real man.” Jeremy had his elbows on the console now, his head resting on his palms as he enjoyed Ryan’s story. He definitely didn’t look absolutely adorable and Ryan definitely wasn’t relishing in having his full attention.

“This girl, I think she had a crush on me-”

“Who can blame her,” Jeremy interrupted, wiggling his eyebrows.

Ryan’s cheeks flushed bright red.  _ He’s teasing, he doesn’t mean it _ , he convinced himself. “She dared me to kiss someone at the party that  _ I _ had a crush on. So I kissed Joseph Foster, the quarterback of our junior high football team.”

Jeremy’s eyes went huge. “Holy shit.”

“Clichéd, right? No one was particularly  _ happy _ about it, especially Joseph. He spilled his whole drink on me, he was so surprised. It kinda ended the party prematurely and I never got invited back again. And he wasn’t even a good kisser.”

Jeremy laughed. “I assume you’ve had better kisses since.”

Ryan blushed again. He started to answer honestly, but instead decided to go with, “Not part of the question, not answering.”

“Fair enough.” He pulled away from the console and settled back in his seat.

Shit. It was Ryan’s turn again. He’d had a hard enough time thinking of something good the first time. He decided to play it safe. “What did you want to be when you grew up?”

“Monster truck driver,” Jeremy answered without missing a beat.

Ryan blinked, a little dazed by the speed of the answer. He had expected a story behind it, but none came. “How did you-”

“Not part of the question, not answering,” Jeremy interrupted in that caricature voice again, grinning. 

Ryan huffed. He started to say something before movement out the windshield caught his eye. He smacked at Jeremy’s arm to direct his attention to the figure crossing the street, about a hundred yards away.

“So much for Gavin’s intel that no guards come through here,” Jeremy muttered, keeping his voice down. The car’s engine and lights were off, so they were dead quiet, and with Jack’s tinted windows, it was hard to see in. Except with a flashlight. Which the guard was sweeping back and forth on his search.

“Looks like a regular patrol, too. This place is a bust.” The client had been adamant about meeting on neutral ground, and this warehouse district had been deemed perfect. Until now.

The guard turned and started moving towards the car.  _ Shit. _ If he found them, things could go south quick. While they weren’t super recognizable as their Fake personas, they were both wanted criminals. A smart guard might figure it out. Since they were outside crew territory, Geoff demanded no killing, lest they start a gang war. They could make a getaway if they went into motion  _ now _ -

“Dare: move your seat back.”

“What?!” Ryan hissed at Jeremy.  _ What the hell is he talking about? _ Jeremy shot him a look that communicated that now was not the time to argue. Ryan complied, confused, before starting to reach for the ignition.

And found a lapful of Jeremy in his way.

He landed straddling Ryan’s lap, neatly planting his knees on either side of his hips. He yanked out Ryan’s hair tie and slid it on his wrist. “I swear to God, if you don’t follow my lead,” he muttered, a little annoyed.

Ryan still wasn’t sure _what_ _the everloving fuck_ was happening. To be fair, he was a little shock-dumb. The adrenaline from seeing the guard, plus his now-racing heart from being in _this_ position with Jeremy, the object of his fantasies for the last ten months? He was expected to be using his brain right now?

Next thing he knew, Jeremy’s hands were in his hair and his open mouth was on his.

_ Kiss him back _ ,  _ stupid!! _ His brain was screaming at him to do something,  _ anything _ ,  _ Jesus Christ, _ and after a moment that was probably only a couple seconds, but felt like years, Ryan put his hands on Jeremy’s hips, pulled him closer, and kissed him back as if his life depended on it.

_ This doesn’t mean anything, this doesn’t mean anything, this is just a ploy, this doesn’t mean anyth- _ He was chanting the thought in his head until Jeremy grabbed a fistful of hair. The jolt of delicious, electric pain made Ryan gasp. Jeremy used the slackjawed moment to lick boldly into Ryan’s mouth. 

It was something straight out of Ryan’s fantasies. The warm, wet slide of tongue against his. The way he could feel Jeremy light up under his hands. When Jeremy broke the kiss to focus his attention on a sensitive spot on his neck, leaving kisses of various pressure, nipping occasionally, running his hands over his chest. He was thankful that Jeremy was generous enough to leave some space between their hips, because Ryan felt he should probably embarrassed at how hard just a little making out was making him. Like being a teenager all over again.  _ Couldn’t care less _ . 

Ryan was fisting Jeremy’s shirt to pull it up, needing to feel the smooth, taut muscles of his back, when there was a knock on the window.

Right. The guard.

Jeremy, the perfect actor, jumped as if in surprise. He leaned back to hit the automatic window button. He made no other attempt to remove himself from his  _ seat. _ “Evening, officer,” he said. His voice sounded a little deeper, a little raspier, and  _ oh God, is that his bedroom voice? _

“This is a no loitering zone, fellas.” Technically, he was a hired guard, not a cop or an officer, but the title seemed to earn them a bit of fondness. Mercs love feeling like they have more power and authority than they actually do.

Jeremy batted his eyelashes at the guard, smiling in charming self-blame. “My fault, officer. My boyfriend and I are celebrating our anniversary tonight. I wanted a chance to be alone for a while.” 

_ Boyfriend?! _

The guard chuckled, giving each of them a look over. “I get it. My girl and I were the same way. We get couples out here all the time. Gonna have to ask y’all to leave, though.”

Jeremy grinned. “Of course! So sorry for the trouble.” He leaned a little further towards the window to whisper, conspiratory. “Got any suggestions for where we  _ can _ go?”

Ryan thought he might die right here. In Jack’s car. On a stakeout. With Jeremy  _ straddling him _ . And suggesting they continue this  _ somewhere else. _

The guard shrugged, still laughing. “Head back to the main road, take a left. About two miles out, there’s a gravel road on the right. Another warehouse block, but the owner’s broke so nobody’s ever out there.”

Jeremy beamed, turning to Ryan. He widened his eyes, trying to communicate the repeated,  _ I swear to God, if you don’t play along.  _ Ryan smiled back, a little shy. “That sounds perfect, thank you,” he said to the guard, trying to play the part of the embarrassed lover. He tried not to picture them actually making the drive and actually resuming  _ this. _

“Definitely perfect, babe,” Jeremy agreed. He leaned forward to wrap an arm around his neck before turning back to wink at the guard. “Thanks for the  _ best _ anniversary gift.”

The guard slapped the top of the car twice. “Have a good night, fellas.” He stepped away, watched as Jeremy dismounted from Ryan’s lap and fell back into the passenger seat, and the two drove off into the night.

Once they were an acceptable distance away, Jeremy burst out laughing. “I can _ not _ believe that worked.” He turned excitedly towards Ryan. “Go to that spot he gave us. It might be a good alternative for the meetup. We should check it out.”

Right. The meetup.

Ryan’s hands were shaking, his heart still beating way too fast and hard. He had kind of forgotten why they were out here. Apparently kissing Jeremy was a great way of forgetting what the hell he was doing. Great to know.

He couldn’t tell if Jeremy noticed this when he said, a little teasingly, “So, was that a good dare? Better than Joseph Foster?” 

That had been a part of the game?

Ryan felt a little let down. He had been okay with it meaning nothing for the guard. But it also meaning nothing because Jeremy wanted this game of truth or dare to be better than the time he had played in seventh grade? That was a little… disappointing. In a way he couldn’t fully rationalize.

Jeremy definitely noticed the disappointment.  _ Why can he read me like a book? _ “That came out wrong, I’m sorry,” he said softly.

“Rule number one, no apologizing,” Ryan reminded, his voice guarded. 

“Right.” Jeremy looked out the window. “It’s your turn, then.”

They had made it to the other warehouse block. Ryan put the car in park and turned off the engine.

The long, silent moment seemed to stretch out forever.

“Why’d you do it?” Ryan asked finally. His voice was quiet. He was scared to know the answer.

Jeremy didn’t say anything for a while. Instead, he waited for Ryan to turn to look at him. Then, he reached out to gently take Ryan’s hand. “Because I wanted to.” The words were so soft, and directed towards their joined hands, that Ryan was barely sure he’d heard them right. “I knew we could have gotten away the easy way. But I also knew that I’ve been dying to kiss you since I met you, and the game was right  _ there _ , and I didn’t think it would have ever happened otherwise.”

“Why not?”

Ryan expected the “ _ not part of the question” _ response, but Jeremy answered honestly instead. “You’re you,” he said with a small, sad smile. “You’re smart, you’re amazing at  _ everything _ , you have this mysterious side that I love the privilege of getting to learn more about? All I do is just make jokes to act like I don’t feel this way. But you’re not into me, and that’s  _ okay _ , I don’t blame you-”

“Jeremy.” Ryan swallowed. He squeezed Jeremy’s hand. They were still playing the game, right? “Your turn. Please. Ask me.”

Jeremy looked up at him, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “Am I wrong?”

Ryan leaned across the console to kiss him instead of answering verbally. It was a gentle kiss, both of them scared of messing this up, but when he pulled back, Jeremy was  _ beaming _ with all the brightness and glow of the sun. It made Ryan feel so light and happy, and he realized he was wearing the same expression.

“My turn. Dare: get back over here.”

Jeremy happily completed his dare, settling back in on Ryan’s lap and picking up where they left off.  _ So much better than seventh grade, _ Ryan mused before Jeremy filled all of his senses and he couldn’t think of anything else.

They were playing  _ so  _ many more games of truth or dare after this.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me at deremyjooley.tumblr.com


End file.
